Courthouse reporter: Don't judge a felon by the tattoo

By Brian Rogers |
June 26, 2014

This mugshot from Stockton, California went viral last week after people all over the Internet went wild over the 'handsomeness' of the accused. But we couldn't help but focus on the face tattoo, a bold life decision that changes the tattooed person's life forever. Click through the rest of the slideshow for a series of Houston face tattoos photographed by Chronicle courts reporter Brian Rogers.

Photo By Matt Sayles/AP

In a Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 photo, Mike Tyson arrives at Spike TV's Video Game Awards in Los Angeles. Prosecutors said Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009 that they won't pursue charges against Mike Tyson or a photographer after a scuffle at Los Angeles International Airport in November.

After seeing Jeremy Meeks pictured in the "hot mugshot" that ignited a storm of social media swooning last week, it seems like someone should set the record straight about Mr. Meek's choice in body art.

Look, I understand. There must be some kind of bad boy story behind that tattooed teardrop streaming down his face.

But it probably doesn't mean what you think it means.

After spending years reporting on Houston's criminal courthouse, I've seen hundreds of people with all kinds of face tattoos. Since asking these strangers about their ink, taking pictures of them and posting them on my blog, #FaceTattooArmy, I've learned a few things.

Turns out, people with face tattoos run the gambit from shifty-eyed thugs to blue-collar family men who just want to put their past behind them. In general, they all had rough upbringings, fell in with a bad crowd and made some bad decisions. Falling in with gangs or drugs easily leads to jail time which leads to jailhouse tattoos.

And almost all of them started their face tattooing with a teardrop. It's the flames that become tattooed sleeves or the cross on the shoulder that grows into a full back art.It does not mean the guy sporting it actually murdered anyone.

There's no uniform code to it. A shaded tattoo doesn't mean a shooting and an outlined tear doesn't mean a stabbing.

If it's on the right side, it doesn't mean he killed a stranger, and if it's on the left it doesn't mean he killed someone to avenge a death.

One thug's badge of dishonor may well be a devoted son's homage to his mom's untimely death from cancer.

Sure there are small pockets of people, small sets of gangs, where it means something special, but it's just like a street handshake you share with your friends. You know what it means, but it's not the same for everybody.

There's no unifying body governing the use and expression of face tattoos.

If there were, as one cop recently said, police could solve murder cases by just rounding up everybody with a tear tattooed under their eye.